Forever After

Summary:
Bella has a nightmare about her wedding day where her beautiful, but mysterious groom is attacked by a monstrous wolf. After she wakes up, she goes looking for the groom where she remembered she had noticed him in real life only a few days before. When their meeting is interrupted she wonders, why is everyone trying to make decisions for her? and why is Edward so dangerous?
Banner courtesy of Eternitys_Charm
Based off of the movies (and the book) Ever After, and Twilight.

Notes:

2. Chapter 3

I couldn't help but be bored after my first week at this new castle, although Jasper and Emmett did amuse me. I figured out by the first night that they enjoy betting and wrestling, as all boys do, and found myself getting into them frequently the first few days, but by the third they grew old. I tried finding different things to take up my time, because as a vampire there's entirely too much time. There are many moments where I wish that I could just sleep for one night, to slip away from the world and explore somewhere else where I'm not a vampire.

I decided to do some chores for Esme to get my mind off of things. She particularly enjoyed our new area of living. I was just so we were out of view, by the trees, of any humans, but close enough to them that no one would be suspicious of our secluded way of living. She loved to go out and do any hard work or any other chores around the house to pass the time like I was doing right now. I guess it's a good way to do it.

I made my way over to our stable where we kept the horses and I noticed one was missing. I followed the smell of Carlisle’s favorite horse. He was a strong horse and so his blood smelled stronger than the others. I sensed where he went and immediately saw him in the direction my nose pointed to. My eyes didn't fail me either, and I saw a woman riding away on it.

After I saw her, I smelled her. It was the most appealing scent that my nose ever beheld. Right at that moment my primal instinct took over and I couldn't help but to run a plan of attack through my head. It was all I could think of, the way I would take her body into my mouth and drain her right then and there. I was the lion and she was my prey. The monster that I had camouflaged for more than eighty years begged me to succumb. And for a moment I did.

I attacked her with a force that would surely knock a wall down. Being that close to her caught my throat on fire. It was a combination of sandpaper and the sun, and not the feeling of the sun from the earth; it was like I was stuffing it through my throat. The pain was unbearable and I was about to give in, but I was stopped in my tracks thinking of Carlisle's face.

He would be so disappointed with my actions. All that time teaching me about how I could redeem myself from being what I was, and here I was about to destroy everything that he built for me. I immediately recoiled on the ground and bowed my face into the dirt, my hand grabbing at it trying to distract my mind from the pain in my throat. It didn't work, so I tried getting her away from me. I had also noticed the royal crest on her cape, and was grateful that I didn't kill the heir to our King without any other children, and far too old to have any more.

"Forgive me highness, I did not see you!" A blatant lie.

"The force with which you hit me says otherwise!" This was good, she was getting my mind off of the thirst that wracked through my body with every breathe I took trying to speak to her. I laughed internally at how she yelled at me. She must have thought herself very intimidating.

"My apologies." I said this as reassuringly as possible and looked up. I leaned slightly backward out of disgust of the monster trying to fight its way out of my body. I saw her take in all the features of my face with shock imbedded in her eyes, obviously taking in my indescribable beauty that personally disgusted me.

"Please, you can take the horse and go." I was begging. Begging that she wouldn't stay any longer and cause my throat to boil anymore. Begging that she wouldn't stay any longer so I wouldn't have to kill her.

"Thank you." I heard her say more shy this time. She dropped a little sack of what sounded like quite a bit of money. "For your silence, don't tell anyone that I have been here, I don't wish to come back." I again chuckled in my head trying to find the reasoning behind her words, seeing my families' rather large castle for mere courtiers; it was in that moment that I realized I couldn't even hear her thoughts. What a peculiar soul. I stood up and spoke, but didn't think.

"Highness, if you're running away you may stay at this home." What was I thinking?! First of all, if she stayed she would know that my family and I were not normal, and I would most likely kill her before she could find out on her own. I guess I was just too much of a gentleman to think of that first. I was pleading that she wouldn't accept, but who would turn away an offer from someone as repulsively beautiful as me.

"Would it be safe?" That was a good question.

"I would bet it is much safer than sleeping in the forest." If I left, I wanted to add. I couldn't believe what I was doing. This woman had a special smell that I would break to at any given moment, and I was inviting her to stay with a family of vampires. This was by far the most idiotic thing I had ever done in my life.

I stood up, and her face became temporarily paralyzed, and I prayed to whatever there was that it was out of fear and she would decline my offer.

"Thank you again." This girl obviously didn't see the danger in my eyes. I took another breathe to take back the offer, and more fire engulfed my throat. Just when I needed it most, one of the King's assistants came to take her back. Thank goodness.

I had heard of this man, Billy Black. King Charles' assistant and best friend. He despised my brothers, he knew what we were.

While neither of them was looking I slipped away, running as fast as I could away from the one thing that could make me crack.

Even from far away her scent was still settled into my throat, I could remember it clearly. I tried every method of getting it out, but vampire minds are just too open. I could think of almost everything at once. I was thinking of a way to get it out of my mind as I thought of the smell of her blood and why I couldn't read her mind. I couldn't handle this on my own, so I rushed into Carlisle's library.

"Can I help you Edward?" He looks distraught, he thought to himself.

"Yes, Carlisle, I..." I was struggling to find a way to describe the impossible way that the princess' blood smelled to me and the violent way that the thirst shook my body, "The princess came through here."

"Well, she does live only a few miles away Edward, Jasper said that they come through quite often." Is she that special? I could tell he didn't mean to insult my intelligence, but he was just puzzled.

"No, but her blood..." I paused remembering the mouthwatering bouquet, "It had an especially delicious aroma."

Ah, I knew this would happen eventually, "Edward, I knew that this would happen to you someday. This is a very rare case that happens to vampires once every few centuries. It's called la tua cantante, which as you know is Italian for singer. This basically means that her blood sings to you. It occurred to me once but, as you know, I didn't give in, and I don't think that you should either son."

"She's my singer?" I would have to wait until she died for her blood to not tempt me again. The thought troubled my mind in an unfamiliar way.

"Yes, and you'll have to fight your will to take her life. It will be hard, but worth the strain." He smiled at me while I just sat there.

"Is there something else you wanted to talk about?"

"Well, yes. I also couldn't hear her thoughts."

"Hmm, that is peculiar. I don't think I know why that would be, but we'll have check up on it. That is if you'll ever be up to it. We could have Jasper try out his talents on her." He was always so methodical, listening to anything he said you would definitely be able to tell that he was a doctor.

"Well thank you."

"Any time son." And he was my father in a way. He always did what was best for me, and he loved me in a very fatherly way.

I decided that I needed more fresh air and began to run through the forest surrounding our castle. I saw every branch and twig with perfect clarity, dodging them with ease. I saw every rock or animal on the ground and leapt over them with exhilarating speed.

I eventually lapped around the town and saw through the trees an enchanting meadow. Moving a little more to the left I saw the princess sitting in the middle of it all. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time; she was definitely attracting danger wherever she went. She looked peaceful with a smile gracing her lips, and I pictured her face exactly like that but in a cold and pale body, dead and limp in my arms, drained of any blood. I knew that it was the monster trying to get its way; well I wouldn't let him have it.

After deciding that I wouldn't drain her I decided to build up a defense against her smell. I would take a breath, enjoy the aroma, feel the fire and take a step closer without making a sound. I repeated this procedure until I was at the edge of her little meadow. From there I just kept breathing, scorching my mouth. Even with the venom pooling, it did nothing to soothe the pain.

I was acually doing this, I knew some of Carlisle had rubbed off on me. I watched her as I became almost entirely immune to the smell of her blood, her face was so peaceful. Right when I started to get comfortable her eyes shot open. She looked around knowingly and stood up. I backed even further behind the tree so there was no possibility of her seeing me. She stated to back up and eventually turn around to sprint toward her castle.It felt like two sparks were trying to connect where my heart should have been, and I clasped my stong hand over my chest to soothe it. I knew the princess would fall, and I wanted to pick her up and dust her off. She was so helpless, I wanted to protect her, but I knew that the best way to do that was to stay away from her, why bring more bad luck to a danger magnet? Yes, she was better off if I stayed as a stranger in her life, nothing more than a shadow.